Waikato children Energized to have healthier lives

Waikato children Energized to have
healthier lives – spend $45/child/year now and gain
quality and quantity of life

Analysis from AUT
University has confirmed a healthy eating and activity
programme now in all Waikato primary schools is saving
taxpayers money as well as improving lives.

A paper
published in Obesity Research and Clinical Practice,
confirms Project Energize will help Waikato children live
longer and healthier lives because of their healthier
lifestyles and weight. The measure of improvement of life,
the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) has an associated
health care cost-between $20,000 and $30,000 for every QALY
gained for the population. QALY is a measure of time that is
defined as ‘quality life’.

The data for the
cost-effective analysis was taken from a recently published
paper in the prestigious British Journal of Nutrition. That
paper indicated that the prevalence of obesity and
overweight among all children was 15% less than for Waikato
children not in the programme measured in 2004 and 2006.
Also children involved in Project Energize could run 550m
(physical fitness) 10% faster than children from another
region.

The success of Project Energize has led to the
programme being rolled out to clusters of schools in
Franklin and Northland as well as the Ministry of Health
recently announcing recently $1.1million of funding for it
to be expanded to over 100 pre-schools and 4000 children in
the Waikato.

Project Energize is funded by the
Waikato District Health Board and is run by Sport Waikato
through a team of 27 ‘Energizers’. Each Energizer works
with 8 to 12 primary schools and teachers to support
physical activity and healthier eating activities.

The
Energizers work closely with the teachers taking ”Huff and
Puff” games and activities that get all the children
moving, demonstrations of why water and milk are the best
drinks and how to make a healthy cheap sandwich.

Lead
researcher, AUT’s Professor Elaine Rush, says Project
Energize is going from strength to strength and demonstrably
improving the lives of Waikato children, their families,
their teachers and the nutrition and physical activity
environment of the school.

“While obviously there is
an initial cost to run Project Energize, it saves money
long-term by reducing the healthcare budget. Waikato DHB
should be congratulated for its forethought in improving the
health of people in this part of the country,” she
says.

Currently Waikato DHB allocate just under
$2million annually for the project but at less than $45 per
child it is good value for money says Professor Rush. This
is less than the cost of one visit to a doctor.

“We
know the investment we make into Project Energize is one we
will get great returns on for many years to come in the form
of healthier adults who will cost the health sector less,”
said Waikato DHB chief executive Craig Climo.

“The
positive effect of the work Project Energize does with these
children is far reaching. What they learn at school, they
pass on at home. Healthy lifestyles benefit families
mentally as well as physically,” he says.

Professor
Rush says children are growing and are meant to get bigger.
“Growing too fast, not eating the best foods and not being
able to run fast has flow-on adverse health implications for
the rest of the child’s life.

“These effects are
intergenerational so this will benefit the next generation
as well. It is for our children’s children,” she
says.

Background

Researchers looked at the
projected lifetime cost of the treatment of 14
obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes mellitus
and chronic heart failure which are associated with too
rapid growth in childhood.

That figure was
extrapolated for a child’s lifetime, multiplied by the
number of fewer overweight children in order to determine
the long term return on investment in Project Energize for
the Waikato DHB.

The programme is delivered to all
44,000 primary aged children in the Waikato children, 36% of
whom are Māori. This is 10% of the New Zealand primary
school population and 15% of the New Zealand primary school
population who are Māori.

Project Energize was
initiated in 2004 with an objective of improving the health
and wellbeing of children in the Waikato. An on line
publication in June 2013 of the prestigious British Journal
of Nutrition confirms that in 2011 Waikato children have a
healthier body weight for age and can run faster than
children measured 5 to 10 years earlier The analysis took
into consideration ethnic group school and school
socio-economic status, sex and age.

This evaluation
involved 5110 children from 192 schools with more than one
third of the children and families involved in the programme
and evaluation being Māori.

See more at:
www.waikatodhb.health.nz/projectenergize

Findings

Measurements from over 5000 Energized children in 2011
published in British Journal of Nutrition indicates….

· The prevalence of obesity and overweight among
all children at least 15% less than for ‘unEnergized’
Waikato children measured in 2004 and 2006.

·
Weight for height (BMI) was reduced by more than 3%

·
The children could run 550m (physical fitness) 10% faster
than children from another region.

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